Hops & Homebrewing Book Help

http://www.howtobrew.com/ has all you need to know to get started.

 

And if that isn't your speed: http://www.netplaces.com/home-brewing/

I'll vouch for both of those books more so than a sketchy e-book. Plus, a 100 year old German recipe is likely ot be lager which will be out of scope for you until you have a way to ferment cold.

 

And to answer your question about how much hops to use, it really depends on the beer style and the recipe that you are brewing, and whether you are using hop pellets or hop cones.

 

There's no one answer to the first. Part depends on style, part on what you want from the brew, and part on tastes. I've seen recipes (for 5 gallons) with everything from 1 oz to a full pound.

For the second, How To Brew by John Palmer and The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian should be on all homebrewers shelves. The first is more of a technical side of things, and the second is more of "Here's what to do. You'll end up with beer." Both are indispensable.

For the other half of the second question, homebrewing doesn't have to be expensive. You need a big pot, preferably 5 gallons (20qts, 19liters) and a bucket to ferment in. Items that are highly recommended are a good thermometer, a hydrometer (to measure starting and finishing gravities) a type of sanitizer (though household bleach will do in a pinch) and some dedicated tubing. Look online for starter kits. Northern Brewer, Midwest brewer and MoreBeer are good places to get them online. ALso, look for a local homebrew shop (LHBS) They will also be able to point the way, and answer most questions you will have.

 

Welcome to BeerAdvocate

The amount of hops does depend on the type of beer you're trying to make, but can easily range from 1 ounce to 12 (or more, you'll see). Other factors come into play including the amounts and types of grains you are using, and the brewing style you choose (extract only, partial mash, all-grain, etc).

There are probably many books out there that show a step-by-step approach to brewing a beer in your kitchen, similar to any cookbook or recipe book for food. However, you need to know a little bit more than this to successfully brew beer repeatedly. Having just a basic understanding of the internal process--how your ingredients are interacting, the chemistry of what is happening in the boil kettle and the fermentor, how the yeast and fermentation temperature affect your final product, how to control you sanitation from start to finish--this is the foundation that you need to make a beer that will keep your interest in the hobby. Without understanding some of these things you may possibly make a good beer, but it would pretty much be by random chance. Chances are better though that it would not be what you expected and would turn you off of trying it again.

Palmer's How to Brew is a good intro, and the older (still perfectly acceptable) version of it is free online. The print version is newer and has many updates, but you are just looking for basic process info right now. One other book that I am still fond of even though many will say it is pedestrian and antiquated is Charlie Papazian's The Complete Joy of Homebrewing. Honestly, there are many people that started out with this book and Charlie is a joy to read. It is conversational and easy on the technical jargon, and might be as close as you can come to having a seasoned, bearded veteran in the kitchen with you leading you calmly through the process.

That said, do you know any seasoned, bearded veteran homebrewers that would let you sit in on a brew day? That is a very good way to learn.

Good luck!

 

For the second, How To Brew by John Palmer and The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian should be on all homebrewers shelves. -JtGtr

I would also add Brew Like a Monk, but I am partial to belgians

 

1. Depends on the style and recipe.

2. It's doubtful that cheap book is going to teach you good technique. You don't need to drop a lot of money on a basic homebrewing set up. You can get all the way into fairly advanced brewing for under $200. If you have a decent stock pot at home you can find a used Mr. Beer kit on ebay/craigslist for around $25 and then you just need ingredients. However, learning sloppy technique at the beginning to cut corners and shave pennies off the costs isn't going to be beneficial over the long term. If you just want to give homebrewing a try to see if you like it then contact a local homebrewing club and ask if you can observe somebody's brew day.

 

Can't disagree, that is a great read. However, when the OP is a beginner, let's start with the basics. Brew Like a Monk, Water, and all those other books can come later.

 

How much hops to use? Several theories exist. theory one... MOAR hops. Theory two... ALL OF THEM. Well, that's all the theories I got for that one.

And these two books are on my shelf. I don't have a lot of beer books (3 total, fwiw), but these two I've certainly read and absorbed quite well. If price is an issue, consider your nature and choose one book. Joy is more art but covers the significant technical aspects well. How to brew is more technical but allows you plenty of room for creativity.

DON'T try to over-complicate things when you're new tho. Russian imperial stouts, 11% DIPAs, and Berliner weiss beers are beyond the scope of a noob. I strongly recommend keeping things relatively simple for a long time. I have kept it pretty simple for a couple years now, maybe 40 batches? and have had almost nothing besides success (we all screw one up here and there, it's not a big deal if that happens, just brew another). Some have been better than others, but amply drinkable homebrew still tastes better than good commercial beer, because you brewed it yourself. Sometimes your homebrew will come out excellent, and nothing will ever taste better than that.

Be realistic on your equipment expenditures. You need a good pot (preferably >> 5 gallons). Just go for the turkey fryer right off the bat, right after thanksgiving, when they go on sale. I've been using one and it has worked wonders. Full boil >>> topping off with water. Again, turkey fryer. Full boil is a huge step towards tasty beer.

Also, fermentation temperature control is critical. You can't live in texas in a dilapidated shack with no air-conditioning and expect to make great beer unless you also have a freezer or fridge with a Johnson controller. However, if you live in a cooler climate, and can find a pretty steady temperature place to ferment, you may not need a freezer/controller (like I have).

And do yourself a favor and get a wort chiller, an AUTO-siphon, and a higher echelon model bottle capper than the bottom-of-the-line model. You'll see why.

 

If I have never homebrewed yet want to get into it for the long hall should I start with an all grain brewing system? And if so where and how much should it cost?

 

Outside of a sketchy, pre-1990's book, the first homebrew book I read was (this is sort of embarassig)... Homebrewing for Dummies, by Marty Nachel, first edition. I was really very informative and took me into all-grain brewing. But learning from a Dummies series book feels unsatisfying, so I picked up Palmer and Papazian, too. (And since then, about 15 others; my homebrew library seems really out of hand). Nowadays, I focus on the more specialized stuff (style categories, the ingredients series), but if I were first starting, the free on-line edition at howtobrew.com would be my first read. But I also recommend getting the print edition for all times you need to develop a decoction mash schedule when your power and internet connection are down.

 

happens to me all the time. in fact as it turns out the only time i need to do that is when the power is out.

i do not have the Palmer book though. Papazian has not led me astray yet, as with the interwebs.

also there may be some of the books named at your local library. I was shocked to see that they still exist but turns out they do.

 

I would start with Extract. There is enough going on your first few brews without complicating matters with all-grain. It's not really hard, but it does take practice. I think that getting the rest of your routine down is the way to get to better beer in the long run. There really isn't any equipment that you would get for extract that isn't translatable for all-grain.
For equipment costs, to start, one of the kits from Northern Brewer, Midwest, Austin Homebrew etc would be plenty. A fermenting pail, bottling bucket, capper, thermometer (you'll want to upgrade that fairly quickly) hydrometer, racking cane, bottling wand and tubing will normally run about $80 or so. Get a good pot (kettle) sized that you can do full boil, so at least 7.5 gallons is required. My current is the 33 qt Graniteware pot, $40 or so at Bed, Bath & Beyond, minus the 20% off coupon they send out. When I started I got the 20qt, and it served well for extract brewing, (non full boil) and still serves as my strike water pot and sometimes sparge water tank now that I went all grain with the big one.
Wait until after thanksgiving then get a turkey fryer propane burner at the big-box hardware store, it'll be about $40 then.